diff --git a/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/dom/text-tracks.ts b/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/dom/text-tracks.ts
index e3d632e1..d057957a 100644
--- a/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/dom/text-tracks.ts
+++ b/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/dom/text-tracks.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,7 @@
 import { createTransitionActor } from '../../../core/actors/create-transition-actor';
 import type { Cue } from '../../../media/types';
-import type {
-  AddCuesMessage,
-  ClearMessage,
-  CueSegmentMeta,
-  TextTracksActor,
-  TextTracksActorContext,
-  TextTracksActorMessage,
-} from '../text-tracks';
+import type { AddCuesMessage, CueSegmentMeta } from '../../primitives/text-track-messages';
+import type { ClearMessage, TextTracksActor, TextTracksActorContext, TextTracksActorMessage } from '../text-tracks';
 
 // Re-export the host-agnostic types so existing dom-side consumers can keep
 // importing from this module.
diff --git a/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/text-track-segment-loader.ts b/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/text-track-segment-loader.ts
index a3b82d98..cf55d24e 100644
--- a/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/text-track-segment-loader.ts
+++ b/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/text-track-segment-loader.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import { createMachineActor, type HandlerContext, type MessageActor } from '../../core/actors/create-machine-actor';
-import type { AnySlotMap } from '../../core/composition/create-composition';
 import { peek } from '../../core/signals/primitives';
 import { SerialRunner, Task } from '../../core/tasks/task';
 import {
@@ -7,7 +6,15 @@ import {
   type ForwardBufferConfig,
   getSegmentsToLoad,
 } from '../../media/buffer/forward-buffer';
-import type { Cue, Segment, TextTrack } from '../../media/types';
+import type { Cue, TextTrack } from '../../media/types';
+import {
+  DEFAULT_TEXT_MESSAGE_PIPELINES,
+  type TextFrame,
+  type TextLoadTask,
+  type TextMessagePipelines,
+  type TextStepDeps,
+  type TextTrackSegmentResolver,
+} from '../primitives/text-segment-load-pipeline';
 import type { TextTracksActor } from './text-tracks';
 
 // =============================================================================
@@ -52,81 +59,6 @@ export type TextTrackSegmentLoaderActor = MessageActor<
   TextTrackSegmentLoaderMessage
 >;
 
-/**
- * Resolves a text-track segment URL into the array of cues it contains.
- *
- * "Resolve" because the fn covers both network fetch and parse into the
- * domain model. Host-agnostic — the concrete resolver (e.g. the
- * browser's native VTT resolver) is supplied at engine-assembly time,
- * so this actor stays DOM-free. A pure `url → cues` primitive (the text
- * analog of the v/a loader's `fetchBytes`); composition-awareness lives in
- * the injected {@link TextLoadStep}s, not here.
- */
-export type TextTrackSegmentResolver<C extends Cue = Cue> = (url: string) => Promise<C[]>;
-
-/**
- * A text load in mid-pipeline — the text analog of the v/a loader's `Frame`.
- * `resolveCuesStep` fills `cues`; `dispatchCuesStep` sends them. `metadata` is
- * opaque header metadata a resolve step may attach for a later step to read
- * (e.g. relocation stashes the `X-TIMESTAMP-MAP` correlation here for its rebase
- * step). Typed `unknown` so the generic loader stays host-agnostic — the step
- * that reads it knows its concrete shape (mirrors `StepDeps.state`).
- */
-export interface TextFrame<C extends Cue = Cue> {
-  readonly op: TextLoadTask;
-  cues?: C[];
-  metadata?: unknown;
-}
-
-/**
- * One stage of a text message pipeline — the text analog of the v/a loader's
- * `LoadStep`. Mutates the {@link TextFrame} in place and may be async; the runner
- * checks `signal.aborted` before each step and passes the actor's
- * {@link TextStepDeps} on every call, so a stateless step (`resolveCuesStep`) is a
- * plain value and a step that needs composition signals (relocation's cue rebase)
- * reads them from `deps` at call time.
- */
-export type TextLoadStep<C extends Cue = Cue> = (
-  frame: TextFrame<C>,
-  signal: AbortSignal,
-  deps: TextStepDeps
-) => void | Promise<void>;
-
-/**
- * The uniform passthrough handed to each {@link TextLoadStep} — the composition triple,
- * the text analog of `StepDeps`. `state`/`context` are the composition signal maps;
- * `config` is the threaded config with the loader's wiring folded in (see
- * {@link textStepWiring} + `createTextTrackSegmentLoaderActor`). Typed loose: composition
- * steps read `state`; base steps read the folded wiring off `config`.
- */
-export interface TextStepDeps {
-  state: AnySlotMap;
-  context: AnySlotMap;
-  config: object;
-}
-
-/**
- * Base-step view of the loader's wiring, folded into `config` by
- * `createTextTrackSegmentLoaderActor` so base steps read it from the uniform passthrough
- * — present in both composition and standalone use. `config` is loose (`object`), so
- * assert the shape here (mirrors the v/a loader's `stepWiring`).
- */
-export function textStepWiring<C extends Cue>(
-  deps: TextStepDeps
-): { textTracksActor: TextTracksActor<C>; resolveSegment: TextTrackSegmentResolver<C> } {
-  return deps.config as { textTracksActor: TextTracksActor<C>; resolveSegment: TextTrackSegmentResolver<C> };
-}
-
-/**
- * Builds the ordered step list, called **once per actor** (mirrors the v/a loader's
- * `MessagePipelines`, but text has a single op type so it's a flat array, not a
- * `Record`). The default ({@link DEFAULT_TEXT_MESSAGE_PIPELINES}) is
- * `resolveCues → dispatchCues`; a non-zero-PTS composition returns a list that
- * inserts a cue-rebase step (see `relocatingTextPipelines`), so the loader stays
- * oblivious to relocation.
- */
-export type TextMessagePipelines<C extends Cue = Cue> = () => TextLoadStep<C>[];
-
 /**
  * Configuration for `createTextTrackSegmentLoaderActor`. Spread over
  * `DEFAULT_FORWARD_BUFFER_CONFIG` to override individual forward-window
@@ -144,54 +76,6 @@ export interface TextTrackSegmentLoaderActorConfig<C extends Cue = Cue> {
 // Implementation
 // =============================================================================
 
-/** Internal load-task descriptor — one segment fetch + dispatch unit. */
-interface TextLoadTask {
-  segment: Segment;
-  trackId: string;
-}
-
-// =============================================================================
-// Steps
-// =============================================================================
-
-// Base steps are generic over the cue type `C` (generic arrow consts, not
-// `TextLoadStep<Cue>` values): each touches `C` — `frame.cues: C[]` and the
-// `C`-typed `textStepWiring<C>` — so a `Cue`-typed const wouldn't slot into a
-// `VTTCue` pipeline. A generic function assigns to any `TextLoadStep<C>`.
-
-/** Resolve the op's cues (via the injected host primitive) into the frame. The text analog of `fetchStep`. */
-export const resolveCuesStep = async <C extends Cue>(
-  frame: TextFrame<C>,
-  signal: AbortSignal,
-  deps: TextStepDeps
-): Promise<void> => {
-  const cues = await textStepWiring<C>(deps).resolveSegment(frame.op.segment.url);
-  if (signal.aborted) return;
-  frame.cues = cues;
-};
-
-/** Dispatch the frame's cues to the TextTracksActor as `add-cues`. The text analog of `dispatchStep`. */
-export const dispatchCuesStep = <C extends Cue>(
-  frame: TextFrame<C>,
-  _signal: AbortSignal,
-  deps: TextStepDeps
-): void => {
-  const { op } = frame;
-  textStepWiring<C>(deps).textTracksActor.send({
-    type: 'add-cues',
-    meta: {
-      trackId: op.trackId,
-      id: op.segment.id,
-      startTime: op.segment.startTime,
-      duration: op.segment.duration,
-    },
-    cues: frame.cues ?? [],
-  });
-};
-
-/** Tier 0 default: resolve then dispatch. No relocation vocabulary. */
-const DEFAULT_TEXT_MESSAGE_PIPELINES = <C extends Cue>(): TextLoadStep<C>[] => [resolveCuesStep, dispatchCuesStep];
-
 /**
  * Loads text-track segments for a track and delegates cue management
  * to a TextTracksActor. Mirrors the v/a `SegmentLoaderActor` shape (FSM
diff --git a/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/text-tracks.ts b/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/text-tracks.ts
index f9670608..8d613990 100644
--- a/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/text-tracks.ts
+++ b/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/text-tracks.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
 import type { TransitionActor } from '../../core/actors/create-transition-actor';
 import type { Cue, Segment } from '../../media/types';
+import type { AddCuesMessage } from '../primitives/text-track-messages';
 
 // =============================================================================
 // Message / context shapes
 // =============================================================================
 
-/** Segment identity and timing — mirrors AppendSegmentMeta without trackId (keyed separately). */
-export type CueSegmentMeta = Pick<Segment, 'id' | 'startTime' | 'duration'> & { trackId: string };
-
 /** Non-finite (extended) data managed by the actor — the XState "context". */
 export interface TextTracksActorContext {
   /** Cues added per track ID. Used for duplicate detection and snapshot observability. */
@@ -16,12 +14,6 @@ export interface TextTracksActorContext {
   segments: Record<string, Array<Pick<Segment, 'id' | 'startTime' | 'duration'>>>;
 }
 
-export interface AddCuesMessage<C extends Cue = Cue> {
-  type: 'add-cues';
-  meta: CueSegmentMeta;
-  cues: C[];
-}
-
 /**
  * Wipe the actor's `loaded` + `segments` context. Sent on source reset
  * (typically by `syncTextTracks` on state exit) so a subsequent
diff --git a/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/tsconfig.json b/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/tsconfig.json
index fe864a4e..7b74f588 100644
--- a/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/spf/src/playback/actors/tsconfig.json
@@ -6,7 +6,12 @@
     "exactOptionalPropertyTypes": false,
     "declarationDir": "../../../types/playback/actors"
   },
-  "references": [{ "path": "../../../../utils" }, { "path": "../../core" }, { "path": "../../media" }],
+  "references": [
+    { "path": "../../../../utils" },
+    { "path": "../../core" },
+    { "path": "../../media" },
+    { "path": "../primitives" }
+  ],
   "include": ["./*.ts", "./tests/**/*.ts"],
   "exclude": ["./dom/**"]
 }
diff --git a/packages/spf/src/playback/behaviors/dom/relocation-pipelines.ts b/packages/spf/src/playback/behaviors/dom/relocation-pipelines.ts
index 9af1e039..25c059b2 100644
--- a/packages/spf/src/playback/behaviors/dom/relocation-pipelines.ts
+++ b/packages/spf/src/playback/behaviors/dom/relocation-pipelines.ts
@@ -34,12 +34,6 @@ import { resolveVttSegmentMetadata, type TextSegmentMetadata } from '../../../me
 import { findMediaTrack, type MediaHandlerType, readBaseMediaDecodeTime } from '../../../media/mp4/timestamp-origin';
 import type { MaybeResolvedPresentation, MediaContainerData } from '../../../media/types';
 import { findTrackById } from '../../../media/utils/tracks';
-import {
-  dispatchCuesStep,
-  type TextLoadStep,
-  type TextMessagePipelines,
-  textStepWiring,
-} from '../../actors/text-track-segment-loader';
 import { peekHead } from '../../primitives/head-peek';
 import {
   dispatchStep,
@@ -48,6 +42,12 @@ import {
   type MessagePipelines,
   type StepDeps,
 } from '../../primitives/segment-load-pipeline';
+import {
+  dispatchCuesStep,
+  type TextLoadStep,
+  type TextMessagePipelines,
+  textStepWiring,
+} from '../../primitives/text-segment-load-pipeline';
 
 // Declared locally so this module carries no `behaviors` import (first step toward
 // relocating it to `primitives/dom`). Structurally identical to the
diff --git a/packages/spf/src/playback/behaviors/dom/setup-text-track-actors.ts b/packages/spf/src/playback/behaviors/dom/setup-text-track-actors.ts
index 32d43ddf..591f9267 100644
--- a/packages/spf/src/playback/behaviors/dom/setup-text-track-actors.ts
+++ b/packages/spf/src/playback/behaviors/dom/setup-text-track-actors.ts
@@ -24,12 +24,11 @@ import type { ReadonlySignal, Signal } from '../../../core/signals/primitives';
 import { createTextTracksActor } from '../../actors/dom/text-tracks';
 import {
   createTextTrackSegmentLoaderActor,
-  type TextMessagePipelines,
   type TextTrackSegmentLoaderActor,
   type TextTrackSegmentLoaderActorConfig,
-  type TextTrackSegmentResolver,
 } from '../../actors/text-track-segment-loader';
 import type { TextTracksActor } from '../../actors/text-tracks';
+import type { TextMessagePipelines, TextTrackSegmentResolver } from '../../primitives/text-segment-load-pipeline';
 
 export interface TextTrackActorsContext {
   mediaElement?: HTMLMediaElement | undefined;
diff --git a/packages/spf/src/playback/engines/hls/engine.ts b/packages/spf/src/playback/engines/hls/engine.ts
index ae2ee459..9e9f6fdd 100644
--- a/packages/spf/src/playback/engines/hls/engine.ts
+++ b/packages/spf/src/playback/engines/hls/engine.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import type { BandwidthConfig, BandwidthState } from '../../../network/bandwidth
 import type { SegmentLoaderActor } from '../../actors/dom/segment-loader';
 import type { SourceBufferActor } from '../../actors/dom/source-buffer';
 import type { TextTracksActor } from '../../actors/dom/text-tracks';
-import type { TextTrackSegmentLoaderActor, TextTrackSegmentResolver } from '../../actors/text-track-segment-loader';
+import type { TextTrackSegmentLoaderActor } from '../../actors/text-track-segment-loader';
 import {
   calculatePresentationDuration,
   type PresentationDurationResolver,
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ import { resolveAudioTrack, resolveTextTrack, resolveVideoTrack } from '../../be
 import { type FailoverMonitorConfig, setupFailoverMonitor } from '../../behaviors/setup-failover-monitor';
 import { syncPreload } from '../../behaviors/sync-preload';
 import { switchAudioTrack, switchTextTrack, switchVideoTrack } from '../../behaviors/track-switching';
+import type { TextTrackSegmentResolver } from '../../primitives/text-segment-load-pipeline';
 
 // ============================================================================
 // HLS Engine State & Context
diff --git a/packages/spf/src/playback/engines/hls/tsconfig.json b/packages/spf/src/playback/engines/hls/tsconfig.json
index acb1ab38..9e83eff2 100644
--- a/packages/spf/src/playback/engines/hls/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/spf/src/playback/engines/hls/tsconfig.json
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
     { "path": "../../../network" },
     { "path": "../../../media" },
     { "path": "../../../media/dom" },
+    { "path": "../../primitives" },
     { "path": "../../behaviors" },
     { "path": "../../behaviors/dom" },
     { "path": "../../actors" },
diff --git a/packages/spf/src/playback/primitives/text-segment-load-pipeline.ts b/packages/spf/src/playback/primitives/text-segment-load-pipeline.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c17ab7fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/spf/src/playback/primitives/text-segment-load-pipeline.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+/**
+ * The text-track **load pipeline** — the step vocabulary and base steps a text-segment
+ * loader runs, the text mirror of `segment-load-pipeline`. Extracted from the loader
+ * actor so the "what" (the composable steps) is separable from the "how" (scheduling).
+ * A pipeline is a flat, ordered list of {@link TextLoadStep}s (text has a single op
+ * type, so no per-type `Record`); the default is `resolveCues → dispatchCues`, and a
+ * composition can insert its own steps (e.g. non-zero-PTS cue rebase) without the
+ * loader knowing.
+ *
+ * The dispatch step reaches its cue sink through the structural {@link CueSink} seam
+ * rather than the concrete `TextTracksActor` type — the loader folds the real actor
+ * into `config`, and it satisfies the seam by structure — so this module names no
+ * actor and stays DOM-free (generic over the cue type `C`).
+ */
+import type { AnySlotMap } from '../../core/composition/create-composition';
+import type { Cue, Segment } from '../../media/types';
+import type { AddCuesMessage } from './text-track-messages';
+
+// ============================================================================
+// SINK SEAM
+// ============================================================================
+
+/**
+ * The structural view of a cue sink the base steps use — just the `send`
+ * {@link dispatchCuesStep} needs. The concrete `TextTracksActor` satisfies it by
+ * structure, so the pipeline names no actor.
+ */
+export interface CueSink<C extends Cue = Cue> {
+  send(message: AddCuesMessage<C>): void;
+}
+
+// ============================================================================
+// STEP MODEL
+// ============================================================================
+
+/**
+ * Resolves a text-track segment URL into the array of cues it contains.
+ *
+ * "Resolve" because the fn covers both network fetch and parse into the
+ * domain model. Host-agnostic — the concrete resolver (e.g. the
+ * browser's native VTT resolver) is supplied at engine-assembly time,
+ * so this stays DOM-free. A pure `url → cues` primitive (the text
+ * analog of the v/a loader's `fetchBytes`); composition-awareness lives in
+ * the injected {@link TextLoadStep}s, not here.
+ */
+export type TextTrackSegmentResolver<C extends Cue = Cue> = (url: string) => Promise<C[]>;
+
+/** Internal load-task descriptor — one segment fetch + dispatch unit. */
+export interface TextLoadTask {
+  segment: Segment;
+  trackId: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * A text load in mid-pipeline — the text analog of the v/a loader's `Frame`.
+ * `resolveCuesStep` fills `cues`; `dispatchCuesStep` sends them. `metadata` is
+ * opaque header metadata a resolve step may attach for a later step to read
+ * (e.g. relocation stashes the `X-TIMESTAMP-MAP` correlation here for its rebase
+ * step). Typed `unknown` so the generic loader stays host-agnostic — the step
+ * that reads it knows its concrete shape (mirrors `StepDeps.state`).
+ */
+export interface TextFrame<C extends Cue = Cue> {
+  readonly op: TextLoadTask;
+  cues?: C[];
+  metadata?: unknown;
+}
+
+/**
+ * One stage of a text message pipeline — the text analog of the v/a loader's
+ * `LoadStep`. Mutates the {@link TextFrame} in place and may be async; the runner
+ * checks `signal.aborted` before each step and passes the actor's
+ * {@link TextStepDeps} on every call, so a stateless step (`resolveCuesStep`) is a
+ * plain value and a step that needs composition signals (relocation's cue rebase)
+ * reads them from `deps` at call time.
+ */
+export type TextLoadStep<C extends Cue = Cue> = (
+  frame: TextFrame<C>,
+  signal: AbortSignal,
+  deps: TextStepDeps
+) => void | Promise<void>;
+
+/**
+ * The uniform passthrough handed to each {@link TextLoadStep} — the composition triple,
+ * the text analog of `StepDeps`. `state`/`context` are the composition signal maps;
+ * `config` is the threaded config with the loader's wiring folded in (see
+ * {@link textStepWiring} + `createTextTrackSegmentLoaderActor`). Typed loose: composition
+ * steps read `state`; base steps read the folded wiring off `config`.
+ */
+export interface TextStepDeps {
+  state: AnySlotMap;
+  context: AnySlotMap;
+  config: object;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Base-step view of the loader's wiring, folded into `config` by
+ * `createTextTrackSegmentLoaderActor` so base steps read it from the uniform passthrough
+ * — present in both composition and standalone use. `config` is loose (`object`), so
+ * assert the shape here (mirrors the v/a loader's `stepWiring`). The sink is the
+ * structural {@link CueSink}, not the concrete actor.
+ */
+export function textStepWiring<C extends Cue>(
+  deps: TextStepDeps
+): { textTracksActor: CueSink<C>; resolveSegment: TextTrackSegmentResolver<C> } {
+  return deps.config as { textTracksActor: CueSink<C>; resolveSegment: TextTrackSegmentResolver<C> };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Builds the ordered step list, called **once per actor** (mirrors the v/a loader's
+ * `MessagePipelines`, but text has a single op type so it's a flat array, not a
+ * `Record`). The default ({@link DEFAULT_TEXT_MESSAGE_PIPELINES}) is
+ * `resolveCues → dispatchCues`; a non-zero-PTS composition returns a list that
+ * inserts a cue-rebase step (see `relocatingTextPipelines`), so the loader stays
+ * oblivious to relocation.
+ */
+export type TextMessagePipelines<C extends Cue = Cue> = () => TextLoadStep<C>[];
+
+// ============================================================================
+// BASE STEPS
+// ============================================================================
+
+// Base steps are generic over the cue type `C` (generic arrow consts, not
+// `TextLoadStep<Cue>` values): each touches `C` — `frame.cues: C[]` and the
+// `C`-typed `textStepWiring<C>` — so a `Cue`-typed const wouldn't slot into a
+// `VTTCue` pipeline. A generic function assigns to any `TextLoadStep<C>`.
+
+/** Resolve the op's cues (via the injected host primitive) into the frame. The text analog of `fetchStep`. */
+export const resolveCuesStep = async <C extends Cue>(
+  frame: TextFrame<C>,
+  signal: AbortSignal,
+  deps: TextStepDeps
+): Promise<void> => {
+  const cues = await textStepWiring<C>(deps).resolveSegment(frame.op.segment.url);
+  if (signal.aborted) return;
+  frame.cues = cues;
+};
+
+/** Dispatch the frame's cues to the TextTracksActor as `add-cues`. The text analog of `dispatchStep`. */
+export const dispatchCuesStep = <C extends Cue>(
+  frame: TextFrame<C>,
+  _signal: AbortSignal,
+  deps: TextStepDeps
+): void => {
+  const { op } = frame;
+  textStepWiring<C>(deps).textTracksActor.send({
+    type: 'add-cues',
+    meta: {
+      trackId: op.trackId,
+      id: op.segment.id,
+      startTime: op.segment.startTime,
+      duration: op.segment.duration,
+    },
+    cues: frame.cues ?? [],
+  });
+};
+
+/** Tier 0 default: resolve then dispatch. No relocation vocabulary. */
+export const DEFAULT_TEXT_MESSAGE_PIPELINES = <C extends Cue>(): TextLoadStep<C>[] => [
+  resolveCuesStep,
+  dispatchCuesStep,
+];
diff --git a/packages/spf/src/playback/primitives/text-track-messages.ts b/packages/spf/src/playback/primitives/text-track-messages.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6eecb329
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/spf/src/playback/primitives/text-track-messages.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+/**
+ * Cue-sink message protocol — the `add-cues` operation a text-track sink accepts.
+ * Plain, transport-neutral data: the text load pipeline (`text-segment-load-pipeline`)
+ * produces it and the TextTracksActor consumes it, so it lives at the primitives layer
+ * both depend on. The text mirror of `source-buffer-messages`.
+ */
+import type { Cue, Segment } from '../../media/types';
+
+/** Segment identity and timing — mirrors AppendSegmentMeta without trackId (keyed separately). */
+export type CueSegmentMeta = Pick<Segment, 'id' | 'startTime' | 'duration'> & { trackId: string };
+
+export interface AddCuesMessage<C extends Cue = Cue> {
+  type: 'add-cues';
+  meta: CueSegmentMeta;
+  cues: C[];
+}